David Harbour reveals he reads 'Stranger Things' fanfic and what his worst director's note was with Actors on Actors partner, and 'Twin Peaks' legend, Kyle MacLachlan. bit.ly/VarietySubscribe / variety / variety / variety
Kyle MacLachlan was robbed of his Emmy for Twin Peaks: The Return, in fact, I think the entire cast was robbed of nominations. The Return was brilliantly done, so many nods to Fire Walk with Me and Twin Peaks original series, and the way it was done again, was pure genius by David Lynch and the cast work was phenomenal. David Lynch can do Twin Peaks in a million different ways and it would still feel like a brand new show each time
Nick Doyle he played 5 characters: Special Agent Dale Cooper, Mr C, Dougie Jones doppelgänger, Cooper in Jones, and Richard. Each of them distinct. So uh, yeah he was robbed
Kyle is a good actor but The Return was a self-indulgent and rather petty act of codified fuck you on the part of Lynch. The amazing thing is that TV is so shite now he largely got away with it.
There's no EGO here. Just people talking seriously about how they enjoy they work and admire each other. This is not very typical in actors and I enjoyed this interview a lot.
I think the best compliment you can pay David Harbour is that if you pay attention to his work on ST, he makes the actors around him better. So many of his co-stars strongest performances are with him. Millie Bobby Brown got an Emmy nomination for Season 2 and her best scenes were by far those with David Harbour. He has incredible chemistry with Winona which was apparently evident from the first scenes they ever shot for it (at the police station). He's one of those actors that others seem to get energy from. I see a lot of comments about him coming across as pretentious. I kind of understand that since he does seem to dominate conversations at times. However, I think the man just geeks the hell out when it comes to acting. It's his whole life, from when he was very young all he wanted to do was acting so that sent him on many different paths as he pursued it. He clearly isn't all that happy with most of his work too and he talked about how he was convinced at one point that Hollywood was pretty much done with him and he would be that guy you see in the background in a lot of movies and shows. However, ST came along at the perfect time because his attitude had changed. He even pushed back on character traits of Hopper that he felt weren't right. The reason Hopper wears that hat, for example, is down to him. They even asked him when he was auditioning, "hey let's try it without the hat!" and he said, "No, I'm good!" LOL. He was at a point where he realized doing exactly as he was told all the time was keeping him in supporting and background roles I guess. He clearly studied acting. He studied all of his heroes and tried to pin down his own methods etc. and I get the feeling he is still trying to do so and may never stop doing that. Kyle seems a lot more comfortable and at ease with it, David strikes me as the kind of guy who has to obsess over it because he has tremendous doubts about himself. That's not a bad thing though, plenty of people who create have talked about that nagging internal feeling that one day they will be "found out". It's what keeps them at their best.
I love that he really breaks it down like he does, as an aspiring director i find it extremely useful when an actor really gets to the nitty gritty of his/her process.
👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 couldn't agree more! I have listened him talking about his life, his work and all I can think is that he loves so much what he does and he commits to it 100% and he's really good at, and I am really happy that someone finally got him what he deserves. I couldn't imagine anyone but David in this role, or Winona's, or Millie's. And you're right, it may seem that sometimes during interviews with other members of the cast, he talks a lot, but he's so proud and excited that he makes me feel so happy and proud to be a fan of his and of Stranger things. Hopper is and will be my favourite character in ST, by far. He made me in a sort of way perfect, even if the character is broken, or whatever.
True af , I have literally like watched so many interviews of him after the ST , also all the points u mentioned were there in his interviews. He is such an adorable actor in a way that he is achieving fame later in his career and he knows how to handle that and I also kind of relate him to Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad). I literally love both of them so much as a person and actors.
This was such a profoundly thoughtful and compassionately written comment. I love reading feedback from people who are genuinely engaged with the artists work and understand the truly challenging process they had to go through to get to where they are today. Such a pleasure to read!
I was just about to make that comment myself when I scrolled across yours. I love Kyle so much, just his presence makes me smile he seems like such a content person
This is easily the best actor interview I have ever seen. I've watched a number of David Harbour interviews and he makes any interviewer look good, because Harbour is so thoughtful and articulate. MacLachlan takes it to a far higher level! He might be the best interviewer ever. He LISTENS and he relates to his own experiences, which are vast. It's pure magic, these two intelligent well-spoken empathetic acting veterans.
Cooper would’ve gone to the Russian base, killed them all, and then when it’s all over: Diane, 3:47 a.m. just took out the Russians. Got shot in the chest twice. Lucky I’m ok.
Shared this over on Kyle’s IG post about this conversation. David mentioned how people tend to love the messier, grosser parts of ourselves more. It caused me to think of a quote from Guillermo Del Toro, "...perfection is unattainable. Perfection is a conceit. Perfection actually lies in fully loving the defect. I think that's perfection. It's like what the guy says in Hellboy, he says, 'We like people for their qualities; we love them for their defects.' It's true in life. It's the same."
This is the crossover I always wanted holyyyy shit!!! Finally, and a great conversation as well. They both have such interesting things to say in every interview
This is the best one, hands down. I've never heard someone be able to get one of David Lynch's ensemble players or himself to explain how he gets the performances. Because it is so stylized. Now I understand the Tarantino method more as well. It's not necessarily that the actor is that intuitive, it's the director knowing how to get the performance out of them. You can tell they truly respected each other's work. There was no sense of obligatory questions. Both really engaged. So good!
If David Duchovny shows up in the final season of Stranger Things in a scene with David Harbour that's part of an episode directed by David Lynch, the Upside Down will collide with the White Lodge and turn reality into a vortex that one can only hope we are all sucked into...
After I finished binging ST up to S3, I was obsessed with the show and watched this. Right after it, I binged TP including FWWM and The Return and here I am. I have returned and I absolutely do not regret a single thing
One of my favorite pairings for this show. I don't get all the hate for David Harbour. I agree he does talk a little much, but I think he's pretty cool and insightful.
This whole interview is amazing but I also love and appreciate that both of them--these two men over 40 from non social media generations--are appreciative of the cultural impact of social media and the fact that being able to compose a funny enough or poetic enough post can be skillful in and of itself.
Ok I can listen to David speak for days and days. His relationship with acting, process, psychology and deep philosophy is so interesting and relevant not just to actors and artists but to all us humans with deep insecurities
Kyle star of a revolutionary show that inspired everything that came after it..like x files..the sopranost..stranger things..and so on..good seeing them together
Actors on Actors is one of the greatest and the most interesting things that have ever been created. Two clever, talented, real people, professionals, just sit there and talk about what they wanna know about one another, share their experiences. Just brilliant. Thank you, Variety for letting Conversations like this happen.
This show has been a regular series on PBS for more than several years now, and it's always good, no matter who they have on there. I can't think of any real recent episodes I've seen, though.
This dynamic is great! I love how both of these awesome actors are asking actually relevant questions. They seem to be genuinely interested in each other and their process and roles instead of just filling up the time with empty questions and answers. Very cool episode!
Same , he is so adorable. I literally fell in love with him after the first 4 episodes of ST and since then I m like GOD! I Love and adore this guy so much as an actor and also as a human being.😍
They have such different energy but it's so engaging to watch how they interact with each other and they both have so much fun. This is one of most interesting interview.
I know this is 5 years old now, but I am about to watch the finale of Twin Peaks the return with my boyfriend and his sister this weekend, after being in love with the show for years, and the film Fire walk with Me was incredible too. Cooper and Hopper's characters are the two we physically cheer for when they come on screen
Well, two of my favourite series here! And I'm really passionate about them both. Just finished watching Twin Peaks: The Return... again. :) So, this was a real treat. It's very interesting to hear actors talk about their work, like, in depth, going beyond the common pleasantries. I wish there were more content like this.
11:40 is fascinating. I once had a classical guitar tutor who would guide my pieces through metaphorical description rather than focusing on a specific technique or description, for example, "play like a ballet dancer" or "imagine bells far off in the distance," and he brought out the best in my performances. Even now I can immediately recollect his style of playing and his approach to music, being at one with the instrument and shaping a narrative together.
I love the comments section almost as much as the interview! Kyle and David are both wonderful actors and I've been following their careers with a great amount of nosiness. I find their shared talk of their approaches to character development fascinating and it was definitely an added bonus to get some insight into David Lynch's practice.
Yeah, funny David Harbour says, 'You're a few years older than me?' And Kyle says, just a few. 16 year age difference, and I don't think David knew that
David Harbour has done AMAZING movies. I personally feel he should be in leading roles. He was sensational in Revolutionary Road...wish he had more scenes and dialogue. He should be in a romantic movie with Kate Winslet...they have great chemistry. I feel he is so underrated in Revolutionary Road...he's like an onion...he has SO many layers. Kyle MacLachlan in SITC as Charlotte's husband, Tray...he was quite darling in that...liked them as a couple. He's a good actor.
Well said, David Harbour. It’s the idiosyncrasies and imperfections that we typically don’t like about ourselves, that oftentimes, draw others to us. Embrace them.
Interesting discussion, but just listening to the end...For me, it's a really nice thought that over time, in having people respond so positively and love certain things about him, that might have helped David love those things about himself more too..
I always assumed the actor who portrayed Trey in SATC was just simply kind of like Trey. I didn’t understand how someone could actually be or play that aloof and odd. Now, I totally get it. Kyle Maclachan is a genius actor!!!
